Irish Pub: A family friendly place

September 2, 2012

WEIRTON - It didn't take Carol Coen long to see the potential of owning a business on Weirton's Main Street.

"It's been here such a long time and it's right on Route 2, so there's easy access, our traffic flow is amazing," said Coen, the new owner of the Irish Pub, 3027 Main St.

Since opening her doors in March, Coen said her focus has been to make the pub a family friendly place for lunch and dinner.

"I want it to have a nice atmosphere," she said. "After 9 p.m. it can turn into an adult place to be, but I want people to be able to bring their children in for lunch and dinner."

Coen, whose full-time job is to oversee accounts payable and receivables for a food service company serving an area college, said tracking things like food costs, inventory and "use by" dates was second nature to her even before she bought the pub.

What she's learned at the food service company over the years "was kind of a tutorial for me, before this business opportunity came along, not knowing if I'd ever use it," said Coen, adding that "seeing how the catering business functions, seeing every activity involved in preparing food, the quality that goes into it ... truly has prepared me for this."

She said running a bar is difficult, "but it's a little harder to run a bar with a kitchen."

"It's a lot of work, from morning to night," she said. "But I have a really good crew here, in the kitchen and the bar. I'm fortunate I don't have to be here 24/7 - I have people who look at the Irish Pub as their own.

Coen said they schedule live entertainment, including a live trivia contest each Wednesday.

"We have great customers," she adds. "Some people come in and stay so long they'll eat a couple meals. They'll sit and talk and watch TV."

The pub offers a range of menu items, including old style fish sandwiches and reubens to club sandwiches, burgers, grilled chicken, cheesesteak, BLTs and open-face roast beef or turkey as well as daily specials like tacos (Mondays) cabbage rolls (Tuesdays), steak and pasta (Wednesdays) and pork chops (Thursdays).